This invention relates to apparatus for winding strand onto flanged spools, and more particularly to improved means for controlling the drive of a traversing guide in such winding apparatus.
In the manufacture of electrical wire and other strand materials, the wire or strand material is commonly wound upon a flanged spool as it advances continuously from processing apparatus such as a drawing or coating machine. A typical wire winding apparatus includes means for supporting and rotating the spool and a traversing guide arranged to traverse the wire back and forth between the end flanges of the spool for winding the wire evenly onto the spool. Mechanical or electrical control means are employed to reverse the direction of traverse as the traversing guide approaches preset limit positions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,834, for example, discloses a reversible traversing drive controlled by adjustable trip members mounted on the traverse carriage and engageable with respective limit switches which are adjustably carried by a slide. With control means of this type, a time-consuming, precise readjustment of the trip members and limit switches is required for winding wire on spools of different lengths.
Other means for effecting a more precise control of the traversing guide movement in strand winding apparatus have been suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,829,037 and 3,876,166. The control means disclosed by each of these patents utilize an electronic control unit responsive to electric signal pulses generated when the traversing guide reaches one or more selected reference positions. The control means of the aforesaid two patents are not particularly suitable or adaptable to wire winding apparatus for winding wire on large flanged spools which may each accommodate from 100 to 450 kilograms of wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,978 also discloses a traversing guide control which employes a rather complicated electronic control unit to establish the end limits of reciprocation of a traversing guide in response to the generation of electric signal pulses at selected positions of the traversing guide. Although the winding apparatus of this patent is particularly suited for winding wire on large spools, considerable set-up time is required to effect manual adjustment of the reference position detector switches to accommodate different sizes of spools.
Thus, there is a need for an improved traversing guide control employing a simple electronic control system responsive to reference position signals which can be produced by reference position detectors that can be readily and precisely adjusted to selected positions along the path of travel of the traversing guide.